No cause for celebration
Nearly 21 women are currently seeking shelter in the Gujranwala Darul Amaan along with eight children for Eid.
GUJRANWALA:
A large group of women seeking shelter in the Gujranwala Darul Amaan will be celebrating this Eid without their families.
Nearly 21 women are currently seeking shelter in the Gujranwala Darul Amaan along with eight children.
These women and their children have said that every year they spend their Eid praying and that sometimes local philanthropists donate some money and they have enough funds to buy new clothes for the festival.“We all usually chip in to pay for one or two animals for sacrifice,” said Zainab*, who came to the Darul Amaan two years ago with her six-year-old son.Zainab said that her husband had tried to burn her in her sleep several times and eventually she ran away and took refuge at the Darul Amaan. The women said that they were comfortable at the Darul Aman and no longer wished to return home.
“We know that we are safer here, we miss our families but things would be much worse for us if we went back home,” said Nusrat, a 15-year-old who ran away from her home after her father and brother killed the man she had wished to marry. “I knew they would kill me next but here I am safe. All of the women here have gone through similar problems and in many ways this is my family now,” she said, adding that the women at the Darul Aman spent their mornings working as seamstresses and they cooked their own meals.
“On Eid, we get some donations and a car from the Darul Aman takes us to the market on Chand Raat so we can buy bangles,” Hajrah Bibi, a mother of three said . “We do not have sweaters and clothes and shoes for our children. Sometimes someone comes and offers us support and recently a woman dropped off several quilts at the centre so at least we will get through the winter,” she said.
The women said that they were never visited by their families on Eid. “They never come to see us and sometimes that is safer. Most of our families do not even know we are here and others would force us to go back to our husbands,” Zainab said, adding that the Darul Aman had tight security and three guards who manned the gates. “On Eidul Fitr no one came here except staff members and some philanthropists. I brought sweets for them, but no DCO, EDO or anybody else bothered to visit or donate,” vocational teacher Sadeeqa begum said.
Misbah Rasheed, the superintendent for the Darul Aman said that the Darul Aman was trying to collect funds from local philanthropists and the local government so that they could organise some Eid events and arrange gifts for the residents. “At present there is nothing to celebrate for these women,” she said.
*Names of the women have been changed to protect their identity.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2010.
A large group of women seeking shelter in the Gujranwala Darul Amaan will be celebrating this Eid without their families.
Nearly 21 women are currently seeking shelter in the Gujranwala Darul Amaan along with eight children.
These women and their children have said that every year they spend their Eid praying and that sometimes local philanthropists donate some money and they have enough funds to buy new clothes for the festival.“We all usually chip in to pay for one or two animals for sacrifice,” said Zainab*, who came to the Darul Amaan two years ago with her six-year-old son.Zainab said that her husband had tried to burn her in her sleep several times and eventually she ran away and took refuge at the Darul Amaan. The women said that they were comfortable at the Darul Aman and no longer wished to return home.
“We know that we are safer here, we miss our families but things would be much worse for us if we went back home,” said Nusrat, a 15-year-old who ran away from her home after her father and brother killed the man she had wished to marry. “I knew they would kill me next but here I am safe. All of the women here have gone through similar problems and in many ways this is my family now,” she said, adding that the women at the Darul Aman spent their mornings working as seamstresses and they cooked their own meals.
“On Eid, we get some donations and a car from the Darul Aman takes us to the market on Chand Raat so we can buy bangles,” Hajrah Bibi, a mother of three said . “We do not have sweaters and clothes and shoes for our children. Sometimes someone comes and offers us support and recently a woman dropped off several quilts at the centre so at least we will get through the winter,” she said.
The women said that they were never visited by their families on Eid. “They never come to see us and sometimes that is safer. Most of our families do not even know we are here and others would force us to go back to our husbands,” Zainab said, adding that the Darul Aman had tight security and three guards who manned the gates. “On Eidul Fitr no one came here except staff members and some philanthropists. I brought sweets for them, but no DCO, EDO or anybody else bothered to visit or donate,” vocational teacher Sadeeqa begum said.
Misbah Rasheed, the superintendent for the Darul Aman said that the Darul Aman was trying to collect funds from local philanthropists and the local government so that they could organise some Eid events and arrange gifts for the residents. “At present there is nothing to celebrate for these women,” she said.
*Names of the women have been changed to protect their identity.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2010.